AnimalvsAnimal
Ball python lucy🐍

Photo: HCA · CC BY-SA 3.0

SpeciesPythonidae
Reptiles

🐍Royal python

Python regius (Shaw, 1802)

The ball python, also called the royal python, is a python species native to West and Central Africa, where it lives in grasslands, shrublands and open forests. This nonvenomous constrictor is the smallest of the African pythons, growing to a maximum length of 182 cm (72 in). The name "ball python" refers to its tendency to curl into a ball when stressed or frightened.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
9
Photos
3
Measurements
10
vs you
≈ 1/7th of your weight
Also called
Ball Python
Conservation status
NTNear threatened

IUCN Red List assessment, 2022.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
8.86 kg
Body length
1.5 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
48 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Royal python

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
8.86 kgrecord 1.61 kg · ReptTraits
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Body length
1.5 mmaximum recorded
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
48 yearsrecord 50 years · ReptTraits
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Record: largest individual on record

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Gestation
77 days
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Litter size
about 7
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Activity cycle
Nocturnal
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Foraging mode
AMB
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Venomous
No
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Snout–vent length
1.13 mmaximum recorded
ReptTraits
Details ↓

Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
8.9 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Royal python yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classSquamata
  4. ›familyPythonidae
  5. ›genusPython
  6. ›speciesPython regius
Full lineage
  1. orderLizards & snakes · Squamata
  2. infraorderSnakes · Serpentes
  3. familyPythonidae
  4. genusPython
All 13 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. superorderLepidosauria
  10. orderLizards & snakes · Squamata
  11. infraorderSnakes · Serpentes
  12. familyPythonidae
  13. genusPython
More

More about the Royal python

In other languages
Python royal (fr), Kongepyton (nb), 球蟒 (zh), Pyton królewski (pl), Python regius (es), királypiton (hu) … and 24 more languages
More photos
Ball python lucyBall Python (Python regius) in natural habitatBall Python Inverted Basking
All 3 photos in the gallery →

Animals caught on camera

Real footage of the animals on this site — hunting, fighting, and getting on with it.

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Tools

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Scaling lab

How speed, brain and bite scale with body size. This animal isn't in the sample yet.

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Tree of life

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